


Atisha Mahariel's Story

by alynnamador



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Gen, Headcanon, backstory headcanon, not really shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 03:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9473630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alynnamador/pseuds/alynnamador
Summary: Atisha Mahariel tells the story of how her family died.





	

A somber silence fell over the campgrounds. 

“‘Total ambush’ the keeper always told me. No one saw it coming.” 

Atisha stared into the fire which warmed the camp. Her eyes swam with images and memories that only she could see. With the exception of the crackle of the fire, the camp was still and silent in anticipation of the rest of the story. 

“I was very young. Almost too young to remember.” A sad smile touched her lips, “so young that I wonder sometimes if the memories I have of that night are real, or fabricated from the accounts of others.” She closed her eyes for a moment. 

“There were several of us children in the clan at the time. I hardly remember many details anymore. I was told that my best friend was a girl named Varania, and I vaguely remember that Varania had an older brother though I don’t remember his name anymore. And their mother was my mother’s best friend.”

“The clan traveled too far to the east. The Keeper, who was First at the time, said that we were never supposed to leave the Free Marches. But the Keeper of the time said we should move further east to escape the oncoming Blight as best we could. No one disagreed with that logic.

“It was the middle of the night and, if I think hard enough, I almost remember the exact moment I woke to the realization that something was wrong. Mass pandemonium.”

Atisha went silent for a long moment. No one moved or made any indication that they were impatient. Even her hound, usually boisterous and energetic, laid somberly at her feet. Her fingers traced idly over the hound’s back as she continued on. 

“When the morning light came, our camp had been nearly decimated. Blood stained every structure we’d set up, and small fires still crackled across our camp. I told you about Tamlen, yes?” Her eyes looked over in the direction we had traveled from to set up this camp, where the Tainted body of her childhood love lay slain by her hands. She’d been silent and nearly unresponsive up till this moment when she finally decided to open up. She then looked over to meet Zevran’s eyes, who waved a dismissive hand. Whomever she had loved in her past, Zevran was her future and everyone was certain of it. 

Everyone nodded. Though she hardly spoke of Tamlen or her clan, everyone knew enough that she could tell her story without drawing on even more unpleasant memories.

“Tamlen… we found him buried and injured beneath the smoldering rubble of his family’s cart, but he was his family’s only survivor. My parents were both…” She cut off and swallowed hard, but never finished that sentence. “We never found Varania, her mother or her older brother.” She finished just above a whisper. 

“The clan took weeks to recover from the attack. We had a few survivors, but our Keeper, who had been gravely injured in the attack, did not make it another sunrise. Scouts were sent to collect information on our attack. Few of them ever returned. From those few who did, we discovered we’d accidentally crossed into the Tevinter Imperium. We held mourned for everyone who never came back, for to be taken as slave is to be as good as dead.

“I hold onto the idea that Varania and her brother escaped before they could be captured. To believe anything else would....” Another silent pause where the only sound was the snoring hound at the Warden’s feet and the dim crackling of a hungry fire. 

“Ir ablelas. Ma’arlath” she said to Zevran, “Ma’falons.” She gestured to the rest of the party. “I’m afraid I’ve ruined the mood of the evening beyond repair.” She announced, then stood and clicked her tongue for the dog to follow in the direction of her tent. Zevran wordlessly stood and followed her into the darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little thing I wrote while I was at work based off of a head canon I've been mulling over for some time. Because working in Harry Potter World isn't interesting enough to me anymore? *shrugs*  
> I do know how her parents canonically died, but that's what head canons are for, yes?


End file.
